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Cold Case (TV series)
Category:CBS network shows Category:Crime television series Category:Police procedural television series Category:2003 television series debuts Category:2000s American television series Category:Television shows set in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Television series by CBS Paramount Television Category:Television series by Warner Bros. Television Cold Case is an American police procedural television series which ran on CBS from September 28, 2003 to May 2, 2010. The series revolved around a fictionalizedPhiladelphia Police Department division that specializes in investigating cold cases. On May 18, 2010, CBS announced that the series had been canceled.1 The series currently airs in syndication, and also on Ion Television on Friday in the U.S. and onViva in Canada.2 Sleuth channel occasionally airs it at midnight on the weekdays. In 2011, the show began airing on MyNetworkTV.3 Contents hide * 1 Premise * 2 Music * 3 Characters ** 3.1 Guest stars * 4 CSI: NY crossover * 5 Satire * 6 Similar series ** 6.1 Cold Squad controversy * 7 Episodes * 8 U.S. television ratings ** 8.1 Cancellation * 9 Awards and nominations ** 9.1 Awards ** 9.2 Nominations * 10 Soundtrack * 11 International broadcasts * 12 See also * 13 References * 14 External links Premiseedit The show is set in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and follows Detective Lilly Rush (Kathryn Morris), a homicide detective with the Philadelphia Police Department, who specializes in "cold cases", or investigations which are no longer being actively pursued by the department. Rush was initially partnered with Detective Chris Lassing (Justin Chambers) in the first five episodes and then with Detective Scotty Valens (Danny Pino) for the remainder of the series. They work under Lieutenant John Stillman (John Finn) and are assisted by other detectives from their squad—Nick Vera (Jeremy Ratchford), Will Jeffries (Thom Barry), and beginning in season three, Kat Miller (Tracie Thoms). Usually, each episode would focus on a single investigation. All cases involved murders committed in Philadelphia, although investigations occasionally required travel outside the city. Cases were also spread out over much of the previous century, with some as recent as a year or two old and others dating back to the 1910s. Generally, an investigation would begin when the police received a new lead, or "new direction", on a case. This might be the discovery of a body, a new lead such as an alibi witness not found in the original investigation, new evidence pointing to the innocence of the accused, or a critical piece of evidence such as a murder weapon (e.g., one investigation began when a gun received in a gun buyback program was linked to a murder through ballistic evidence). In some cases, the lack of a body meant that it was originally unclear if a crime had even occurred, with people instead believing that the victim had merely left town. Over the course of the episode, the detectives would interview witnesses associated with the crime and piece together the story of what led the victims to their death. These interviews were accompanied by flashback sequences to the time of the murder which dramatized the testimony. Witness testimony, even from people who would later be revealed as the killer, was almost never false. At most the guilty party would lie by omission, leaving out critical details, or stopping their narrative before they implicated themselves. The witness testimony was also generally presented in chronological order so that it formed a cohesive linear story for the audience. The show was also distinguished by "double casting" in which the characters and witnesses would flash back and forth in the scene representing them as they looked at the time of the crime and in the present day. This was done with different actors as children or much younger selves especially if the year in question was well in the past. The oldest case for example took place in 1919. A living witness was seven years old at the time but in 2007 when investigated was now 95. However if the crime took place in the recent past (i.e. within the last 10 years) the same actor would be used with minor differences, unless it was a child or adolescent. However if it was judged that the character was not likely to have altered in appearance significantly except for weight and gray hair, the same actor would be used. This was not just with the guest actors themselves but sometimes with the detectives as well if they had any involvement in the original investigation. Detective Jeffries for example had flashbacks to himself as a child in two episodes and a young detective in another. At the end of the episode, when the killer/s were exposed and confronted the confession would be in a flashback scene depicting the murder. The scene would show the details with exceptions having to do with the utter heinousness of the underlying motive of the crime such as rape or sexual assault. The police would be shown arresting the killer and walking them into custody. The killer and other characters in the story would seen as flashing back to their younger selves and as now. The spirit of the victim would be seen either by Lilly, one of the other detectives or a loved one of the victim. This would be accompanied by the playing of a song meant to symbolize the period in which the killing took place. Through the flashbacks, the show examined many issues related to 20th century history, including: racism, homophobia, sexism, abortion, and police brutality. Some of the cases were based on real life events or victims, akin to the "ripped from the headlines" style from shows like Law & Order. Musicedit The theme song is an excerpt from "Nara" by E.S. Posthumus (who also performed the theme for NFL on CBS), with an introduction by series composer Michael A. Levine that begins with an otherworldly wail from vocalist Elise Morris. Besides Levine's original music, each episode makes extensive use of era-appropriate music for flashbacks to the year in question. Some episodes contain music only from one artist such as Ray Charles, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Doors, John Mellencamp, Johnny Cash, Bob Seger, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Tim McGraw, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra and John Lennon. Pearl Jam's music was used in the two-part season-six finale, the first time one artist's music has been used for two full episodes.4 In one episode, the music from the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show ("Creatures of the Night" starringBarry Bostwick) and in another episode ("Wilkommen") only music from Cabaret was used. In the series finale, music from The Rolling Stones was used, and for the first time, it featured an unreleased song. Original Songs of the series: * "Best Friends" – Episode: "Best Friends" * "One Dress Left" (performed by Allison Miller) – Episode: "Beautiful Little Fool" * "300 Flowers" (performed by Allison Miller) – Episode: "Beautiful Little Fool" * "Scarlet Rose" (composed by Gary Haase and sung by Alexa Khan) – Episode: "Static" * "Goin' Off" (Written by Jeff Lucky and performed by Danièle Watts) – Episode: "Read Between The Lines" * "Read Between The Lines" (Written by Jeff Lucky and performed by Danièle Watts) – Episode: "Read Between The Lines" Charactersedit Main article: List of Cold Case characters See also: Minor characters in Cold Case Guest starsedit * Adam Pascal * Adrianne Barbeau * Alexa Nikolas * Amber Benson * Anita Gillette * Annie Wersching * Anthony John Crane * Ashley Johnson * Barry Bostwick * Becki Newton * Bellamy Young * Billy Unger * Blanca E. Conchas * Bobby Cannavale * Bree Turner * Brett Cullen * Brian Johnson * Bruce Locke * Chad Everett * Charles Duckworth * Chi Muoi Lo * Chris Sarandon * Christa B. Allen * Clarence Williams III * Croix Lazzara * Daniel Baldwin * Darren Criss * David Henrie * DeLane Matthews * Diana Burbano * Diane Ladd * Donna Mills * Dorian Lopinto * Doug Spinuzza * Dougald Park * D.W. Moffett * Elaine Kao * Elizabeth Franz * Emily Rose * Erin Chambers * Evan Lai * Finn Wittrock * Frances Fisher * Gina Chai * Holland Roden * Irene Tsu * Jack Galle * Jack Ong * James Hsu * Jamie Ann Allman * Jenna Leigh Green * Jennifer Lawrence * Jeremy Dunn * Jerry O'Donnell * John Churchhill * John Rubinstein * Johnathan LaPaglia * Johnny M. Wu * Jolene Andersen * Jordan Dang * Julia Vera * June Lockhart * Kate Mara * Kemp Lee * Kenton Duty * Kip Martin * Kyla Dang * Lawrence Monoson * Lee Majors * Lillian Hurst * Lisa Waltz * Lolita Davidovich * Loren Lester * Madeline Carroll * Mario Bernier * Max Gail * Megan Follows * Melissa Leo * Meredith Baxter Birney * Michael Nader * Michael Reilly Burke * Mo McRae * Nadia Axakowsky * Nick Warnock * Paul Wesley * Peter Graves * Peter Onorati * Peter Porte * Ralph Waite * Raymond Ma * Robert Walters * Robin Shou * Ryan Carr * Sara Arrington * Sarah Utterback * Sean Bridgers * Shailene Woodley * Sherman Howard * Shirley Knight * Stephen Mendillo * Taya Rogers * Tim Choate * Tracey Walter * Tuc Watkins * Tzi Ma * Zachery Ty Bryan CSI: NY crossoveredit On May 2, 2007, one of the Cold Case detectives made a rare appearance outside of the series. In the CSI: NY episode "Cold Reveal", Danny Pino appeared as his Cold Case character Scotty Valens as he traveled to New York when it was discovered that CSI Stella Bonasera (Melina Kanakaredes) was connected to an unsolved case. The CSI shows and Cold Case all air on CBS and are produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. None of the characters from CSI, however, appeared on Cold Case. Satireedit In 2005, John Finn, Kathryn Morris and Jeremy Ratchford appeared in a satirical promo on the Irish language television station TG4. The commercial won a Gold Medal in the "Best Drama Promos" category of the 2007 Sharks International Advertising Awards Festival of Ireland (Sharks Awards).5 The promotion features John Finn and Kathryn Morris in character interrogating a murder suspect (Peader Cox) from the TG4 soap''Ros na Rún'' who refuses to speak in English; both detectives then begin talking in Gaelic, much to the surprise of Jeremy Ratchford's character. The promo tied in with a murder investigation in Ros na Rún.6 Similar seriesedit The investigation of "cold cases" has been used as the basis for several other detective dramas, including: * The Enigma Files, UK / BBC, 1980 * Cold Squad, CAN / CTV Television Network, 1998 * Cold Case Files, A&E Network, 1999 (true cases) * Waking the Dead, UK / BBC, 2000 * New Tricks, UK / BBC, 2003 * Zettai Reido, Japan / Fuji Television, 2010 Cold Squad controversyedit Upon its launch, television critics noted similarities between Cold Case and a similar Canadian series called Cold Squad which debuted in 1998, five years before Cold Case.7 Fans of Cold Squad accused the American series of copying the basic premise and characters of the Canadian version. In 2003, the creators of Cold Squad considered launching legal action against the makers of Cold Case over copyright issues.89 Both shows air in Canada (and on the same network, CTV). The law firm headed by entertainment attorney Pierce O'Donnell, who successfully represented Art Buchwald in his copyright-infringement suit against Paramount and who has defended the James Bond franchise against copycats, has confirmed that it has agreed to represent[clarification needed] the producers of Cold Squad, who claim that the CBS series is a knock-off of their own hit show. The Globe and Mail reported that Meredith Stehm, the creator of the American series, attended a seminar on TV writing at the Canadian Film Centre in 2002 where the concept of Cold Squad was explained to her. O'Donnell's law firm stated: "Our clients are very concerned about many striking similarities and have retained counsel to investigate the situation and if necessary, to take appropriate action." Episodesedit Main article: List of Cold Case episodes U.S. television ratingsedit : Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. * In season 3 episode "A Perfect Day" Cold Case set a series rating record by attracting an audience of 19.36 million viewers. Cancellationedit Cold Case began in September 2003 and quickly became a staple of the CBS Sunday night schedule. The crime drama had a successful first season and, by season two, was averaging a 3.5 rating in the 18–49 demographic and 15.1 million viewers. For the next couple seasons, total viewership fell slightly but the demographic numbers rose, reaching a 3.8 in season four. In season five, the show averaged a 2.9 rating and about 12 million viewers. In Season 6, the ratings sank lower, to an average of a 2.7 rating; CBS made a choice between renewing Without a Trace and Cold Case. They chose to keep Cold Case. In Season 7, the show’s ratings dropped even further to a 2.15 rating in the 18–49 demographic and 9.6 million viewers. One reason for this is that the show aired at 10:00 pm, the ratings dropped 25% to 9 million viewers.14 In November 22, 2009 CBS scheduled Cold Case at 9:00 pm, the ratings increased to 10 million viewers but it was not enough to keep Cold Case, on February 14, 2010,Cold Case returned to its original schedule, at 10:00 pm. CBS announced the show would not be renewed for season eight.14 Awards and nominationsedit Awardsedit ; ASCAP Award * Top TV Series – (2004) * Top TV Series – (2005) * Top TV Series – (2006) * Top TV Series – (2007) * Top TV Series – (2008) * Top TV Series – (2009) ; GLAAD Media Awards * Outstanding Individual Episode (In a Series Without a Regular Gay Character) – For episode "Best Friends". (2006) ; Image Awards * Outstanding Directing in a Dramatic Series – Paris Barclay (2006) ; Imagen Foundation Awards * Best Actor, Television – Danny Pino (2010) Nominationsedit ; ALMA Awards * Outstanding Actor in a Drama Television Series – Danny Pino (2008) ; ASC Awards * Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Regular Series (For episode "Time To Hate") (2004) ; Excellence in Production Design Award * Television - Single Camera Television Series (For episode "Factory Girls") (2005) ; CDG Awards * Outstanding Costume Design for Television Series - Period/Fantasy (2005) * Outstanding Costume Design for Television Series - Period/Fantasy (2006) * Outstanding Costume Design for Television Series - Period/Fantasy (2007) ; GLAAD Media Awards * Outstanding Individual Episode (In a Series Without a Regular Gay Character) (For episode "A Time to Hate") (2004) * Outstanding Individual Episode (In a Series Without a Regular Gay Character) (For episode "It's Rainning Men") (2005) * Outstanding Individual Episode (In a Series Without a Regular Gay Character) (For episode "Daniela") (2005) * Outstanding Individual Episode (For episode "Forever Blue") (2007) * Outstanding Individual Episode (in a Series without a Regular LGBT Character) (For episode "Boy Crazy") ; Emmy * Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series – Corey Kaplan (production designer) (For episode "Factory Girls") (2005) * Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series – Sandy Getzler (art director) (For episode "Factory Girls") (2005) * Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series – Timothy Stepeck (set decorator) (For episode "Factory Girls") (2005) Soundtrackedit A soundtrack CD was released in 2008 by Lakeshore Records, featuring incidental music composed by Michael A. Levine from the first four seasons, as well as the song 300 Flowers, sung by Robbyn Kirmsse.15 International broadcastsedit Broadcasters carrying the show include: * Albania – Digi+ * Argentina – Warner Channel * Australia – Nine Network, W * Austria – ORF1, ATV * Belgium – RTL TVI/VTM/VIJF * Brazil – SBT, Warner Channel * Bulgaria – Nova Television * Canada – CTV * Québec – Series+ * Chile – Warner Channel * Colombia – Warner Channel * Costa Rica – Warner Channel, Teletica * Croatia – RTL Televizija * Cuba – Telerebelde * Cyprus – LTV * Czech Republic – TV Nova * Denmark – TV3 Puls * Estonia – Kanal 2 * Finland – MTV3 * France – France2 – TF6 - Canal + * Germany – ProSieben, kabeleins * Greece – Star Channel * Honduras - Canal 11 * Hong Kong – ATV World * Hungary – RTL Klub * Iceland – Stöð 2 * India – Zee Café * Ireland – TG4, 3e, Universal Channel * Israel – Yes Action, hot zone * Italy – Rai 2 * Japan – WOWOW * Malaysia – STAR World * Mexico – Warner Channel * Netherlands – NET 5 * New Zealand - TV One (New Zealand) * Norway – TVNorge * Peru – Warner Channel, Frecuencia Latina * Poland – TVN * Philippines - CHASE on BEAM 3116 * Portugal – RTP2, Fox Portugal * Romania – Diva Universal * Russia – NTV * Serbia – Prva, Prva Plus * Singapore – STAR World * Slovakia – TV Markíza * Slovenia – POP TV, TV3 * South Africa – M-Net * Spain – Fox, Antena 3 * Sri Lanka – Zee Café * Sweden – Kanal 5 * Switzerland – SF zwei (German), TSR1 (French), RSI La 1(Italian) * Turkey – CNBC-e * Thailand – True Series, WarnerTV (Asia) * United Kingdom – Universal Channel * United States - Ion Television, TNT, CBS * United Arab Emirates - MBC Action, Dubai One * Ukraine – 1+1 * Vietnam – K plus